One product for MTD for VAT and MTD for Income Tax: which of the products we compare do both

acrenvo.com/guides/mtd-vat-and-income-tax-one-product, last reviewed 25 October 2026

Tom is fictional, but his question comes up often. He is a self-employed electrician, registered for VAT, and he has sent his VAT Returns through accounting software for years. Now Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax is reaching him too, and he would rather not run two products and enter the same receipts twice. He wants to know whether the software he has will do both jobs, and if not, which products will. This guide sets out what GOV.UK asks you to check, then shows which of the products we compare say they handle both.

What GOV.UK asks you to check

GOV.UK’s guidance on choosing MTD for Income Tax software has a paragraph written for readers like Tom. If your business is VAT registered, you will already be using software to keep digital records and submit your VAT Returns. You should either check if your VAT software will also be compatible with Making Tax Digital for Income Tax or that your chosen software can meet your VAT needs.

So there are two ways to arrive at one product. You can start from your VAT software and check that it also handles MTD for Income Tax, or you can start from an Income Tax product you like and check that it also files your VAT Returns. On the VAT side, the requirement is the same either way. To do this, you’ll need either:

• a compatible software package that allows you to keep digital records and submit VAT Returns
• bridging software to connect non-compatible software (like spreadsheets) to HMRC systems

If you use an agent or accountant, talk to them about what software you need. If your software is compatible, it will ask you to grant authority to access the data from HMRC on your behalf. The authority lasts for 18 months, but you can check or withdraw your permissions at any time.

Which of the products we compare handle both

Every product we compare works with MTD for Income Tax. When we last checked each provider’s own pages, 14 of them also said they handle MTD for VAT returns. Several only include VAT from a particular plan, so the plan matters as much as the product. These answers were checked 25 October to 3 November 2026.

A few plan names carry a condition in brackets, such as a plan that covers quarterly updates only, so read that part before you choose. The plan that includes VAT is not always the cheapest plan a product offers, and each product’s own page sets out its plans and prices. More widely, the median paid starting price for July to September 2026 was £8.13 a month in our quarterly price reports, and our record of price changes shows when any moved.

Four of the products we compare say they do not include MTD for VAT returns: Coconut, Debbie, Provestor for Landlords and untied. They can still suit your Income Tax, but you would need separate software for your VAT.

If you keep two products

GOV.UK does not insist on one product for both, since its software page asks you to check from either direction, and for some people two products is the simpler choice, for example when an accountant already handles the VAT side. Within MTD for VAT, though, the records and the return have to be joined up digitally. If you use more than one software package or product to keep records and submit returns, you need to link them. This must be a digital link. You cannot manually transfer this data, or ‘copy and paste’, between software. The guide to keeping records for both taxes explains what counts as a digital link.

How the selector treats VAT

The software selector asks whether you are registered for VAT. If you are, it gives more weight to products that say they handle MTD for VAT returns, and where a provider names the plan that includes VAT, it prices the product from that plan or a higher one. It never removes a product because of your VAT answer, because Income Tax software can be paired with separate VAT software.

If you are still working out how the two sets of rules fit together, the guide to MTD for VAT and MTD for Income Tax is the place to start.

Questions about one product for both

You may also find this page useful: Signing up for MTD voluntarily: what GOV.UK says about starting before you have to.